A RARE moment of controversy in the typically ultra-polite sport of curling erupted today over a foul known as a “burned rock” in the Canada v Denmark women’s match.

The drama unfolded in the fifth end, or period, of the already tense game, when a Danish player touched a stone that was in motion. That is a foul called a “burned rock.”

When burned rocks occur, the opposing team has three choices: they can ignore the foul, rearrange the stones to whatever position they think they would have ended up if the stone hadn’t been touched or remove the stone from play.